Strother Memorial Chapel · Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0Households in Seminole earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 27.9%, where Oklahoma as a whole has 15.3%. Jobs and income earn Seminole D−; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in four stay in Seminole for work; outside it, Oklahoma City is the main destination (11%, 51 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Seminole in brief
Seminole’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Seminole is Oklahoma City, 51 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (341) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Seminole trades workers with the towns around it
Seminole has about as many jobs (3,591) as working residents (3,089), but they are mostly different people: 2,231 residents leave for work each day while 2,733 people come in. Only 24% of the jobs in Seminole are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Seminole workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Seminole’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Seminole are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 22 across Oklahoma. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oklahoma worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Seminole’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Seminole is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #118 of 131 in Oklahoma. Job access by car holds Seminole’s grade up (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($39,121, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Seminole could be anywhere from D− to D.
The commute from Seminole, by distance
About 32% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who leaves Seminole for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,231 residents head out to work, 858 work right here, and 2,733 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.16 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What work there is in Seminole: 3,591 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Seminole, 2013 → 2023: 4,145 → 3,591. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Seminole’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 17 minutes to work from Seminole
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Seminole workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,649 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Oklahoma: 85% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where Seminole’s working residents head each day
Where Seminole clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Most of Seminole commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Seminole is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #30 of 131 in Oklahoma. Both inputs place Seminole near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,760 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.4% of Seminole households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Seminole’s commuters take a bus or train.
Seminole next to U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 458 | Piedmont OK | 9,427 | $104K | 2.6% | 3.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 735 | Verdigris OK | 5,888 | $84K | 6.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 911 | Tuttle OK | 8,708 | $104K | 5.3% | 4.8% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,024 | Berryville AR | 5,813 | $42K | 22.8% | 8.5% | 38% | D− |
| 3,025 | Lamesa TX | 8,103 | $49K | 22.7% | 7.3% | 34% | D− |
| 3,026 | Seminole OK | 7,393 | $39K | 27.9% | 7.4% | 28% | D− |
| 3,027 | Center TX | 5,246 | $48K | 26.1% | 10.3% | 49% | D− |
| 3,028 | Tuba City AZ | 7,960 | $61K | 28.0% | 7.5% | 14% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Seminole, the top three, the last and three more from Oklahoma.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Seminole: questions
What is the median household income in Seminole?
$39,121 (±$4,286) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Seminole?
27.9%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Seminole?
17 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Seminole work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oklahoma City (11%, 51 mi), Shawnee (7%, 20 mi), Tulsa (5%, 75 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Seminole walkable?
Seminole is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Seminole without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Seminole, from the people who make the trip.
More of Seminole
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.